Take off
by The water Lilly
Summary: An AU of the original series with a more modern spin to it.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: hey readers everywhere! It's been so long, but I have finally found a good computer to work with! YAY! So before I go back, edit, and finish my other projects, this idea appeared and is forcing me to write it before I get anything else done. This is an AU universe for the original series ****_The Thunderbirds. _****Hopefully, you will enjoy it, and as for disclaimer...c'mon we all know I don't own ****_The Thunderbirds_****, or there would've been a better movie. Now sit back, relax, and prepare for Takeoff! **

Chapter 1 

The room was the stereotypical room for an interrogation. Limited lighting, one table with one seat facing the only door, and of course the large one way window. The man currently sitting in the chair waiting to be questioned by the standard issue government agents was not a patient man. Having been both a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a N.A.S.A astronaut, you'd have thought that the man with only slightly greying brown hair, would have been taught to sit cooly in situations such as this one. But this was not a normal combat situation, it was not a lunar exploration mission. No, this was far more serious.

"Colonel Tracey."

Jeff Tracey turned his attention toward the door. As he had assumed, two government agents, dressed like they were ready for the courtroom rather than a government detainment center, walked in. The man appeared in his late twenties, slightly stumbled chin, which Jeff accounted for lack of sleep, trying to make a false dominating appearance. His partner, on the other hand, a female in her mid twenties, tried to put on show of false sympathy, trying to show some sign of concern for the situation Jeff found himself in.

_"Good cop bad cop?" _He thought to himself, "_Who do they think I am, some pasty teenager being brought in for their first traffic violation." _Then, out loud, he spoke to the agent who had addressed him.

"It's just Mr. Tracey, I'm no longer a colonel."

"Fine then, Mr. Tracey." the man replied in an impatient tone, "My name is agent Grant, and this is Agent Parks. You've been informed as to why you're here I assume?"

Jeff resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "If I hadn't would you be here?"

Agent Parks cleared her throat, trying to hide a small smirk, then readjusted herself, taking a small remote and lighting up the large screen behind her. The screen showed several images of a laboratory including coordinates and security footage.

"Mr. Tracey, the recent incident at Revolve labs on the island Tarawa, it has put the government in a difficult situation. "

She clicked the a button on the remote and it showed three different images. One was of a large red, rocket looking jet plane, the other was a more rounded plane that almost seemed to hover just above the ground. Another was shown underwater and seemed to be the oddest looking submarine the world had ever seen.

"Each of these machines were spotted at the time of the incident," continued Agent Parks, "performing feats of such magnitude, that the inhabitants who saw them called them 'Kiseki no tenshi-tachi'. "

"Angels of miracles huh?" Mused Jeff, "not exactly what I would've called them."

"Mr Tracey, we know these are your designs," said Agent Grant, "we know that both you and government scientist Dr. Hiram Hackenbacker, we're assigned to design and create these machines over twelve years ago, and that about seven years ago, the program was shut down and the machines and the plans for them were to be destroyed."

"Obviously they weren't completely destroyed," Jeff replied cooly, "but both Dr. Hackenbacker and I were held hostage during the incident so we had nothing to do with the machines."

"We know that sir," replied Parks. Clicking two more buttons, five new video surveillance videos appeared on the screen, "but these men _were._"

Jeff sighed, running a weary hand over his face as he stared at the images. The first one was of a man who was about 26, whose brown hair and face were covered with soot as he desperately tried to pull a scientist back over a railing. The next showed a man with similar hair color, but seems a few years younger and a few inches shorter, who was helping hold a bleeding man's wound to try and stem the bleeding. The third image showed yet a younger man, who was a much lighter build with ash white hair, furiously typing away at a complex computer security code. The fourth picture showed a younger man with fiery red hair who was diving off of a twenty foot cliff, into water to save a three men who had fallen off the cliff face. The final image showed a teen with short blonde hair, running from a group of heavy built men, the teen then just barely sliding under a closing security door, blocking the other men from following him. The teen smilingly widely at them as he gave a mock salute. Jeff was so caught up in staring he barely registered Agent Grant saying,

"Mr Tracey, we know these men found your plans and rebuilt them, they've already admit to that, the question we want you to answer is how? How did five boys, the oldest of which barely out of college, managed to rebuild such sophisticated technology in such a short period of time?"

Jeff remained silent, glaring at the man.

"Mr Tracey, we have them here already, we know their identities," said Agent Parks firmly, "the only way to help them, is to help us, tell us, how did they manage to do what they did? "

Jeff smiled for the first time in several hours, then replied, "They're Tracey boys, it's in their D.N.A."

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**Hoped you enjoyed the first chapter, will try to post weekly. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Wow! Am loving the reviews so far! Thanks to Elsa Jay for reminding me of the correct way to spell ****_Tracy. _****I had been so caught up with other details that I hadn't thought about the spelling. Because of the feedback and the fact that my mind keeps going with this I'm posting early! Yay! Hope you enjoy! **

Chapter 2

Scott Tracey could just barely recall a time when his dad wasn't too busy working to help him out with his brothers. At first, his mom had been the manager of the house and family. She knew how to get a five year old Gordon out of the pool, or a seven year old John away from the telescope. She had known how to get a sulking, preteen Virgil to take out his anger and frustration out on a car, canvas, or the piano, rather than his brothers, and she knew just what to say to help prepare each brother for having Alan as a baby brother. She had taught Scott many things, but the one thing she hadn't taught him, was how to take her place when she was gone. He couldn't help but wonder if they would be in this situation if she was still there.

"Sergeant Tracy," said one of the agents who had brought him here, "I can take you to see your brothers and your father now."

Scott nodded gratefully and followed the man into a cafeteria looking area. He could tell quickly that the doors were guarded, but there was no listening devices or cameras that he could detect. He was informed to sit in the room and wait for the others. He sat and waited for the agent to leave the room before returning to his thoughts once more, going back to when this had all started.

_Eight days 96 hours and 31 minuets before _

Scott walked plane with sweaty palms. He had manned a plane on a three person mission in the middle of a danger zone with a -20% outcome of survival. He had faced the harsh desert sand storms and deadly heat of Iran. He had even seen combat first hand in the middle of a dog eat dog firefight. But he was more nervous for what was to come within the next 48 hours. Getting out of the terminal went relatively smooth and was Scott was pleasantly surprised at what was waiting for him. A tall and lanky 22 year old with white blonde hair Scott could recognize anywhere made eye contact with him. Immediately, Scott rushed over and enclosed him in a firm embrace. They stayed like that for a minuet before the younger man said,

"Hey, Scooter,...you're kinda crushing my rib cage."

Scott reluctantly let go of his younger brother, "It's good to see you John."

John smiled and nodded in agreement, then motioned toward the exit and helping Scott with his bag, he asked, "So how have you been Private?"

"It's Sergeant now and good, but enough about me," replied Scott putting an arm around John's thin shoulders, "how have you been, couldn't tell much from the video chats."

In truth, Scott thought John looked a little pale and thin, of course John was always skinny as a fish bone, but it was the dark circles under his brother's eyes that had him worried. He credited this as too much coffee and not enough rest. Something that could easily be amended where they were headed.

"_I'm_ fine," laughed John, "_you_ were the one deployed over seas."

The two quickly reached the car while reminiscing and Scott finally got the courage to ask, "How are the others?"

Scott had chat more with John than anyone else in the family, partly, because John was the only one Scott knew wasn't mad at him anymore. John let out a sigh as he started the car.

"Virgil's ok, the shop's doing pretty well and he's still taking a couple of med classes online, Gordon's doing alright at the community college..."

"Any change on the water situation?" Scott interrupted, trying not to sound too hopeful.

John shook his head sadly,"He still won't go near it, and I think almost everyone's given up on trying to make him."

Scott nodded then asked, "And Alan? Last I talked to him, he was having trouble with a couple of classes."

"Not just a couple unfortunately," John replied solemnly, "Alan got suspended a couple weeks back."

"What?! What for?"

"Well,..." John said," he put red dye in the shampoo dispensers for the guy's locker room, cut his morning classes three times, and challenged a couple guys to a drag race on the school football field."

Scott let out a low whistle, shaking his head, "Bet Dad read him the riot act."

"Something like that."

"What about you?" He asked John, "how are your classes going at the university?"

John smiled brightly, "You know me, can't seem to get my head of of the clouds."

John was majoring in astronomy at Stanford, where he also ran track and had a minor in engineering. In his spare time, he informed Scott, he was trying to learn another new language. Since they were kids, John had tried to learn as many languages as he could. By the age of twelve he spoke eight fluently. John was the one everyone had expected a lot from, after Scott had left.

"How's dad?" Scott asked after John finished.

John seemed to almost cringe, "You're gonna have to see about that one for yourself Scooter, it's kind of hard to explain."

Scott senses began to go on full alert, his subconscious remembering the last time his dad had stared acting wired. The rest of the drive went relatively quiet, until John made a turn moving away from their destination. Noting the look of confusion on Scott's face, John explained.

"I called ahead and Virgil's still at the shop, I figured we could see him first."

When Scott let out a sigh, running a hand over his eyes wearily, John said, "Gotta pick and choose your battles Scooter."

Scott glared at his younger brother, "Don't use military logic on me, _Johnny_, and don't call me Scooter."

"Whatever you say captain control freak."

Scott groaned afraid that all his old childhood nicknames were coming back to haunt him this weekend.

_Present _

The sound of the doors opening shook Scott from his thoughts. His heart nearly melted with relief when he heard a familiar voice call out,

"Scott?"

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	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: ****Sorry for the late update but writing for Virgil took a lot more energy and time then I thought. Thanks for the awesome reviews and I am going to make a few tiny edits in the first to chapters concerning Scott's rank. Now as part of the AU you will notice in this chapter that I switched Virgil and John age wise. I know in the original John is older, but for their personalities in this story it made more sense for them to be switched. Now enough of me talking on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer****: OF course I don't own the Thunderbirds! **

Chapter 3

23 year old Virgil Tracy wasn't sure if he was going to hug his older brother or if he was going to strangle him to death. After a brief questioning period, in which Virgil refused to give any information implicating his brothers, he was lead to a small commons room where he was informed that he would be seeing his brothers. To both his relief and dismay only Scott was in the room. Before Virgil could say or do anything, Scott rushed him with the speed and strength that nearly knocked his younger brother off his feet entirely.

"Easy Scotty," said Virgil trying to get oxygen back to his lungs, "I'm ok. I promise."

As the agents left, Scott finally released his younger brother, looking him over for any injury his brother might have been lying about.

"Scott." Said Virgil exasperated "I'm not injured. Nothing but scrapes and bruises."

Scott nodded, coming to the same conclusion, then asked, "what about the others? Have you seen them yet?"

"No last I saw was Gordy being checked out by the EMT guys looking like a drowned puppy,did they show you the footage?"

Scott smiled and nodded, "And here we thought he would never go near the water again."

Virgil glared at him, "Scott this is serious!"

"I know," he responded, "I haven't seen Alan since we got separated."

"John either." Said Virgil taking a deep breath through his nose. "You think they're ok?"

"Of course they are." Said Scott sounding as if he was trying to reassure himself as much as he was Virgil.

"What about you?" Asked Virgil

"Nothing that a good night's sleep at home won't cure." Scott replied a little stiffly.

Virgil sighed, making a mental note to force Scott to get himself checked out when all as said and done, and the two of them moved into chairs, sitting in silence. Virgil began to think to himself,

"Why did we even do this in the first place? How could we have been so stupid?...Correction, how could _I_ have been so stupid?"

_Eight days 94 hours and 15 minuets earlier_

"Hey Virgil," a voice called out, "I'm heading home, don't forget to lock up before your leave!"

Virgil pulled himself out from under the car he was currently replacing a broken axel. He saw his boss, 56 yer old Roy Evert, standing by the door, looking anxious to leave. Virgil offered an award winning, Tracy smile.

"Don't worry Roy," the younger brunette said, "this place won't burn down without you, and the bikers promised to clean up after they're crazy wild party."

Roy rolled his eyes, "Your sense of humor's a little stale kid. You must be listening to Gordon's jokes a little too much huh?"

Virgil laughed and said goodbye as the elder man left. Virgil turned back to the truck and went back to work. Virgil had always been a hands on kind of person, and working on cars was one of the few things that worked well with his personality. He didn't have to rely on anyone else in order to get the job done, he just had to find the problem and fix it. In some ways, his med courses were very similar. He could find a problem to fix and patch it up in a jiffy. However, life was never this simple, which is why Virgil often buried himself in his work.

"I did learn from the best." He thought bitterly

"Hey can we get some help here?" A voice called out from the front.

Virgil groaned and yelled back, " We're closed, come back tomorrow."

Virgil suppressed a frustrated sigh as he heard the sound footsteps coming closer rather than leaving. He begrudgingly pulled himself out from under the car and began to stand saying,

"Look, I'm sorry but I can't help you today, if you come back tomorrow,"

"Virgil."

Virgil finally stood and saw one the persons responsible for pestering him and Virgil immediately broke into a smile, "John!"

John grinned impishly and embraced his older brother. When they finally pulled apart, Virgil

saw another familiar face, one he was slightly less enthused to see.

"Hey Virge," Scott said waving from where he stood.

"Scott," Virgil acknowledged, then turned to John and asked, "What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to get here till Wednesday!"

"Virge, it is Wednesday."

Virgil mentally face palmed. Of course it was Wednesday and of course he had been so wrapped up in work he forgot that John was coming in today.

"I would've been here sooner, but I stopped by the airport to pick up the air head here." John replied, trying to keep his younger brother from beating himself about forgetting the day.

"Hey watch it Space Case." warned Scott, finally remembering one of John's old nicknames as pay back.

"You know," John said to Virgil, "You think for an air force pilot, he could fly himself home."

Virgil laughed as Scott rolled his eyes. The light banter seemed to ease the tension slightly, and Virgil knew that this was exactly what John planned. He knew that John was planning on making this visit as stress free as possible for anyone, and to make it less stressful on John, he knew he and Scott would play nice.

"Just let me lock up and we can head out." said Virgil, moving to grab the keys from the office.

"You might wanna wipe the engine grease off your face too," said John tossing him a clean rag from Virgil's workstation, "unless you enjoy getting a lecture from Grandma."

Virgil frowned, unaware that he had gotten anything on his face, and vigorously rubbed it clean. John volunteered to go out and start the car to get the heater going, leaving Virgil alone with Scott. And as Virgil grabbed the keys to lock up from the desk drawer, Scott stood in the doorway, poorly attempting to make conversation.

"So,...John told me you've picked up a couple of Med. Courses online...how are they going?"

Virgil stopped what he was doing and turned to look his older brother in the eyes.

"Look Scott, just don't ok?"

"What do you mean?"

"The only time we've talked to each other in the past four years is over video chat. Did you really think we we going to be back to how we were as kids in time for Thanksgiving dinner?

Scott let out a heavy sigh, "No."

Virgil nodded and began to move past Scott to finish closing when the older Tracy grabbed his arm.

"I hoped this could be a way to start." He said, "I'm willing to try Virgil."

Virgil took his arm back then said, "Well, I don't if I am."

_Present _

Virgil shook himself from reminiscing and turned back toward Scott.

"What now?" He asked

Scott sighed, "I don't know, honestly if they were going to arrest us for something, they would've had enough evidence to do so by now."

"So then why are we still here?"

Before Scott could reply, the door opened again, reviling another Tracy family member stumbling through.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:****Hey fanfic population! Hope you all had a good thanksgiving. Thanks to all the reviewers, your comments are very much appreciated! I've been extremely busy with tests and work and such but, here is the next chapter and expect more very soon.**

**Chapter 4**

John successfully stared down the agent questioning him for the last hour and a half without so much so saying one word to answer. They still seemed baffled as to how an astronomy major with a minor in engineering from Kansas Tech managed to not only hack into a secure government computer, but then give said computer and every other computer in the secured government compound a virus that their own technicians still had not managed to decipher.

"John I don't think you realize just how much trouble your in..."

The eldest blonde of the Tracy clan, arched his eyebrow ever so slightly for that sarcastic 'really, I had no idea' look.

"John," the agent said with a sigh, signaling that he was done with this whole, pleading the fifth, act, "even if you do tell us how you managed to pull off that stunt, you'll be sent to a secure location, never to be seen by your friends or family again. And if you _don't _tell us...well then, that makes it much harder on your family."

John's roommates and several of his other friends in college, had said on several occasions, that when it came down to family, John was selfless to a fault. John had always put his family first, even when leaving for college. This in mind, the agent had made a serious error in threatening his family. John laughed, making the first noise since being brought to the room. The laugh, however, held no mirth, but rather was so cold and empty that one of the agents behind the one way mirror jumped, bumping the glass.

"Agent," he said calmly, "you've seen what I can do, and by now you have access to my personal information including my I.Q. So please have the decency to quit treating me like some drunken frat boy. If you had anything solid against me, we wouldn't be here now having this completely pointless conversation."

"You forgetting that we have you on the security footage."

"Please, grainy government security footage that an eight year old from the 1950's could easily tamper with? It will never hold up. "

John knew that if the agent hadn't been trained not to, he would be sighing in defeat.

"So," said John, "if your done questioning my intelligence with your neurotic questions, I'd like to see my family now."

_Eight days 93 hours and 25 minuets earlier _

John had gladly let Virgil take the wheel for the thirty minuet drive home. Although he was trying not to let his brothers see it, he was physically exhausted. Having run on nothing but coffee and a couple of energy bars over the past three weeks, had finally caught up with them. Stretching out in the back of the car, while his brothers sat in the front two seats, he closed his eyes, at least pretending to get some rest. His mind drifted off for a few moment as he began to wonder what he was going to say to the rest of the family in regard to the surprise that was Scott. He honestly had meant to tell his Dad and Grandma that he was picking up Scott, truly he had. But then midterms had come, track season was picking up. along with a review of his scholarship, and picking up extra hours working in the library. One morning , after a late night at the library, John had actually come home later than his housemates, who had been at a "killer" party.

"Dude," said Ashton, John's good friend since freshmen year, "I don't understand why you work so hard."

"It's called being a good student and keeping my scholarship Ash," quipped John jokingly, "something that might be a little hard for you to understand."

"No that I get," replied the C average student, "what I don't understand is with your dad's...you know...financial situation...why you even need a scholarship in the first place.

Ashton was the only student at the university John had told about who his dad was, and John had barely done that, Ash was just more nosey than anything.

"We've been over this before Ash," John sighed crashing on the couch, "I got myself here, on my own, I don't need his money or help."

"Yeah well if you don't get some kind of help soon, bro, you're gonna kill yourself."

"Johnny, we're here."

John was startled from his semiconscious state. So much so that he sat up so fast he hit his head on the roof of the car.

"You ok?" Asked Scott

"I'm good." John replied with a grimace.

His older brothers shared a quick look of concern, something they hadn't done in years.

"Really I'm fine guys." John said trying to ease their worry.

"If you say so." Said Virgil stepping out of the car.

Scott sighed, shaking his head and also got out of the car. John, a smile returning to his face upon recognizing the house in front of him.

_Present _

John was finally permitted to go and see his brothers, being taken to the room where they were being allowed to visit. The guard shovined him through the door, nearly sending the middle Tracy sprawling across the concrete floor.

"Johnny?"

Before he could answer or acknowledge the speaker in any way, he was crushed by two figures.

"Guys, oxygen, please."

The figures refused to let go for another minuet or so, but when they did, John was not only able to breathe, but was able to see that it was his two older brothers. John couldn't help but feel both relieved that his older brothers were ok, but at the same time worried that they were the only ones in the room.

"John what happened?!"

John had known it was only a matter of seconds before Virgil noticed the stark white bandages on his forearms.

"It's nothing," John shrugged, "just a couple of electrical burns, not a big deal."

John could tell by the looks on his brother's faces that they didn't seem to think it wasn't as big a deal as he did. Virgil shook his head forcing John to sit down and taking one of his arms to examine the wrappings, while Scott hovered slightly, unsure of what to do.

"Well it looks like they've been wrapped by a five year old, where did these medics get their training." Virgil commented gruffly, unwrapping the bandage on his left arm. As the burned skin was revealed, Virgil carefully examined them,while Scott grimaced.

"What did you get yourself into Johnny?" He asked

"I'm fine really." John replied trying not to flinch as Virgil touched a sensitive area.

"Were you unconscious for any period of time?" Virgil asked carefully rewrapping the arm.

"Just for about a minuet, or at least that's what they tell me."

Virgil swore under his breath as he moved to the other arm. Scott was so focused on John's arm that he didn't even bother to reprimand his younger brother for the slip of the tongue.

"Virge, I'm fine really." John insisted.

"I'll be the judge of that."

John sighed hoping to distract his brothers from the burns asked, "What about the others?"

As if on cue the door opened allowing a new figure to step in.

"Thank God you guys are ok!"

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	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**** Welcome to the year 2014 dear readers. Thank you for all the awesome reviews. It really encourages me to continue. Gordon was an interesting challenge to write for and I hope that you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. **

**Oh and if I did own the Thunderbirds, I would have put them back on the air years ago. So clearly I don't own them.**

Chapter 4

Gordon was in a serious amount of pain. Jumping off that Cliffside and into the ocean water below hadn't been near this painful. His stomach growled for the twenty third time since he had been held for questioning. He was starving! If he did not get something to eat and fast, he was fairly sure he would be sick. Even the pretty blonde agent they had stuck him with didn't distract him from the hunger pains. When they had first brought him in for questioning, his adrenaline had spiked through the roof, allowing him to ignore the pain from his hunger and from the colorful variety of bruises and scrapes he had from their little adventure. He was sure that the other guys were never going to believe what he had done. To be honest, he wasn't sure he could believe it. It had been years since he had gone near the water, but now….

"Well, Gordon, one thing's for sure," said the blonde agent, "you certainly aren't the brightest of the Tracy family."

"Maybe not," Gordon mused, "but I'm certainly the prettiest."

The agent rolled her eyes. She had been warned that the red headed Tracy was a big flirt, and they had hoped to play that to their advantage by sending her in. As long as she didn't fall for the legendary Tracy charm.

"You jumped off a twenty foot cliff." She replied coolly.

"And saved the life of three of your scientists." Gordon retorted. "We've been over this already, now is there any possible way I could get something to eat?" please

"Are you serious?"

"What? I said please."

The agent sighed shaking her head, "From what we found, Gordon, you used to be a top swimmer on your high school varsity swim team. You maintained a B average, but you managed to get a swimming scholarship to a University in New Mexico. Then, Spring Break your freshmen year, there was an accident. "

The agent didn't go into the details of the accident but she didn't have to. Gordon could remember every second of the accident in mind numbing detail.

"After that, you went back home and are currently studying at a junior college. As far as anyone can tell, you haven't been near the water since. So my question to you is, how does someone who hasn't been in the water for a little over two years, after being in an accident that nearly paralyzed them from the neck down, jump of a twenty foot cliff, swim toward three unconscious men, and pull them back to shore, whit barely a scratch on him?"

Gordon paused, contemplated it for a moment, then grinned, leaning back casually and replied, "I'm just that good."

_**Eight Days, 92 hours and 45 minutes earlier**_

"Gordon Tracy get down here and help your grandmother in the kitchen!"

The twenty year old sighed contently as he made his way down the stairs to go toward the kitchen. He had just finished posting an assignment for his English class. He wasn't particularly proud of the paper, but English had never really been his best subject anyway. His girlfriend Amy had tried to tutor him on several occasions but…they usually found themselves doing things other than studying. Their last "study session" ended with the topic of spring break plans. Amy and her cousin were going with some of their friends to the family cabin for the week. The cabin was by a popular lake.

"You don't even have to go near the water." Amy had promised, "You can just stay on the shore line."

"Amy...I just…I wouldn't be able to relax, you know that."

Amy had sighed, and then pulled Gordon's hand into hers, "I know you're still afraid, and you have every right to be. I just want you to know that when you are ready to face it, you have a lot of people ready to help you."

Gordon now entered the kitchen where Grandma Tracy had about thirty dishes cooking at once. Thought the grey hair and the nearly invisible wrinkles might give away her old age, she rarely acted it. Grandma Tracy was quick with both word and action. Ever since their mother had died, when she came to live with them, she had been the boy's role model, and sometimes, their only parent. Gordon had always been amazed at how she managed to keep track of everything in the house, and everything that was going on in the lives of the Tracy boys, including her own recluse of a son. Swiftly moving to take the potatoes away from her, Gordon pulled out a knife, and sat down at the kitchen table to peel them.

"Thank you Gordon." She said smiling sweetly moving to work on stuffing, "your father refuses to come out of that office to help and Alan is still sulking in his room. I just hope that this visit from John might do some good for him."

Gordon nodded in agreement. The two blondes of the Tracy family had a particular bond that no one else could break or come into. Gordon might not be the brightest of the family, but he was extremely observant when it came to his brothers.

"It'll be good to see him again." Gordon agreed.

"It's just a shame that the whole family won't be here." She sighed gently.

Again Gordon nodded. That was a sore spot for everyone and for her to bring that up, meant that something was bothering her. He stood up and moved next to her as she began to scoop cookie dough onto a cookie sheet.

"Grandma what's wrong?"

She sighed and turned toward him, "You were always perceptive weren't you. I don't know… I thought that with Johnny coming home…I thought, well I had hoped that your father might put business on hold for a while but…"

Gordon hugged her gently, "Don't worry Grandma." He said. "I'm sure once John actually gets here, Dad'll come out and forget all about the office for a couple of days."

The two broke of apart and Grandma Tracy replied, "I sure hope you're right Gordon."

Sticking some cookie dough he had stolen in his mouth he said indignantly, "You make it sounds like that's a rare occurrence around here."

His Grandma smacked him in the stomach with her wooden spoon, warning him not to eat all the dough before they actually baked into cookies. Gordon was about to make a snarky reply when he heard a familiar voice from the hall say, "Looks like we're home."

He looked to his Grandma, smiled widely, then ran toward the hall.

_**Present**_

Though much to Gordon's dismay, they didn't get him anything to eat, but they did take him to where his brothers were supposed to be. Stepping inside and seeing his three older brothers all alive and somewhat whole he exclaimed,

"Thank God you guys are ok."

Scott moved to hug the red head. John tried to get up but after stern look from Virgil, one that Gordon was all too familiar with, John stayed where he was.

"What's wrong with John?" Gordon asked

"Electrical burns." Muttered Virgil as he worked on wrapping John's right arms with a white bandage. "And when I'm done here, you're next."

Gordon nodded, knowing full well, that there was no escaping and angry Dr. Virgil. Gordon looked to Scott, and as if reading his mind Scott said, "Still no word on dad or Alan."

Gordon sighed running his fingers through his slightly damp hair. He then moved to sit next to John.

"Usually I'm the one Virgil saves that look for Johnny," he joked, "what could the golden boy have possibly done to incur such wrath?"

"Very funny Gordo." Said John, who was clearly uncomfortable, "what about you're swan dive off the cliff. "

Gordon turned slightly red, "They showed you that huh?"

"Oh you bet they did. "Said Virgil finishing tying the bandage on John's arm. He then turned to Gordon with the same look he had given John, "Which means you're next."

Gordon was about to protest, having been checked over many times by the paramedics, when the door opened and the youngest of the Tracy brothers walked into the room, and all four of the older Tracy's let out an inward sigh of relief.

**Well? Favs? Reviews? Rocks thrown at me? **

**Can't wait for the next chapter! As you can probably tell the next chapter is about Alan and should be very exciting!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**** Hey readers! Wow the jump in followers and reviews is awesome! You guys make me want to write all the time! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 6

16 year old Alan Tracy sat exhausted as he listened to his child services lawyer talk to him. The middle aged brunette informed Alan not to say anything and that they wouldn't be able to charge him. Alan, of course, knew all this already, but pretended to listen to her as she droned on and on. To be honest, he could care less about whether they charged him or not. He knew that any trouble he was in with the government would be nothing compared to the trouble he was in with his family. His dad was going to kill him and his brothers for coming after him, and then his brothers would kill him for following them, then his Grandma would kill them all for this entire scheme. So no matter what way the cards fell, Alan Shepherd Tracy was a dead man.

"Alan, they have no reason to keep you here, as long as you cooperate and tell them everything they need to know…"

"So I'm fine as long as I rat out my brothers? No thanks, I'll take prison."

Alan was known to be many things, stubborn, hot tempered, even a delinquent, but Alan Tracy was loyal.

"Alan, you have gotten yourself into some deep trouble here."

"And how is that different from any other Tuesday?"

Alan was now very used to being in trouble. Ever since high school started, Alan had taken a turn for the destructive. In fact, he had gotten into so much trouble, that his dad had actually stopped working for a second to discipline him.

"Nothing they can say will scare me into turning over my family."

The lawyer sighed, recognizing this look on many of the children she worked with. She had recently had the "privilege" of working with Alan Tracy. One thing she realized with this particular teen was that no matter how much the boy rebelled, was that he was actually a very good kid who was desperate for attention from a semi-neglectant father, and an absent older brother who had been the boy's role model for twelve years. At this point, realizing that they would get nowhere said, "I'll see what I can do about getting them to let you see your brothers."

Alan looked at her suspiciously, as if unable to believe that this woman would actually do something nice for him. As she reached the door to leave he whispered a quick "Thank you." that she had to strain her ears to hear. Rather than embarrass the sixteen year old and saying "Your Welcome", she simply just smiled to herself and went to look for the agent in charge.

_**Eight days, 92 hours and 40 minutes earlier**_

Alan slammed his English book violently. He didn't understand the need for all the hype of early British literature. When you could actually understand the old English, the subject of the text was so boring that it could put an English professor to sleep. He groaned as he looked at the clock. He had been home from school for two hours and he still hadn't finished the intro paragraph for his English paper, though the kind of teacher that assigned an English paper over the Canterbury Tales during Thanksgiving break could only be described as a sick and twisted sadist. But at least he wasn't on suspension any more. He hated that he disappointed his family, but if he had been given the chance to go back and do it over again he sure as hell would. He would even take the suspension again, just to see the look on those dumb jocks' faces again when they saw their beloved football field all torn up with tire tracks all over it. He knew it was cliché, hating the football team and everything, but they had started it! Being a Tracy had always placed a target on his and his brother's backs. Scott and Virgil had always been able to take care of things in a fight. When they were both in school, nobody messed with John or Gordon without expecting a beating from Scott and or Virgil after. But because of their age difference, Alan had spent most of his high school career dealing with bullies on his own. Virgil, John and Gordon were always ready with advice for him on how to handle it. He had tried ignoring them, and talking to them, like Virgil and John had suggested, however, both of those tactics had failed, Alan had begun to use what he called, "The Gordon Method". First it was the hair dye, which while completely hilarious, was just a warning to back off. But the jocks just wouldn't stop; in fact, they only amplified their abuse to him and the others they were already bullying. That's when Alan decided to step up. He got a whole group together to race across the football filed. Though it hadn't stopped the bullying, it had been a complete success. And as a bonus, Alan's dad had actually had to come up to the school and deal with the situation. When they got home, they had the longest conversation that the two of them had in years. And the conversation had lasted twenty minutes. Alan had pleaded his case to his dad, but his dad just told him that revenge was not the answer and that Alan should just act his own age. Not that Alan expected much from the great Jeff Tracy, who was legendary for his ignorance to his sons. After all, he hadn't realized Scott was planning to leave, and when he did find out about it, he did nothing to stop him. He simply said that Scott was old enough to make his own decisions. Alan wondered that what would happen if Grandma didn't live with them. The house would probably burn down within the first fifteen minutes.

"Alan!" called Gordon, "Get your butt down here!"

"What do you want Gordo!"

"Just get down here!"

Alan rolled his eyes and stood up. Giving one last glance at his barely started paper and shut the door. He walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen.

"Jeez Gordon why couldn't you just tell me…"

He stopped as soon as he saw the kitchen occupants. Virgil, who looked like he had just gotten off work, was standing next to a tired, but content John, and a nervous but happy Scott. Alan had thought that for sure that if he ever saw Scott again, all he'd be able to do was be mad and yell at him. But now seeing him, standing there after all this time, the only thing Alan could do was say, "Scott", and run up and wrap his arms around his big brother's waist. Though surprised and startled at first, Scott quickly returned the hug and both brothers barely managed to keep the tears back. After all, they were Tracys, they could only show so much emotion. After a while, Scott finally released his younger brother, he cleared his throat, and said, "It's good to see you too sprout."

_**Present**_

As Alan stepped into the room where his brothers, as he had felt the same emotions as he did then. He couldn't tell if he was going yell at them in anger, or if he was going to hug them to death out of relief that they were all okay. Well mostly, he thought as he noticed Gordon's wet hair, and the bandages on John's arms. Before he could do anything, Scott wrapped his arms around Alan and nearly squeezed the life out of him. Alan look over his shoulder for help, but not one of his older brothers even gave him a look of sympathy.

"He did the same to each of us." Said Gordon as he tried to shy away from Virgil's prying.

Scott let go only to check Alan over for any broken limbs. Then he noticed the bruise on Alan's face and gave him a look demanding to know what happened.

"The guy got a lucky punch." Alan said, shrugging. Then smiling he added, "You should see what they look like."

Gordon laughed, "That's our sprout."

Virgil smacked him in the arm lightly, "Come over here Sprout, so we can have a look at that eye."

Glad to have an excuse to get away from Scott for a moment. As he sat down by Virgil he looked at John and Gordon and asked seriously, "You guys ok?"

"We're fine kiddo." Said John ruffling his hair in a comforting manner.

"Yep, Johnny just forgot not to play with live wires, and I just went for a swim off a twenty foot diving board," joked Gordon, "No biggie."

"Well that's a relief," came a commanding and familiar voice that sent a small shiver down each of the boy's spine, "now if you all don't mind telling me why you all disobeyed a direct order not to come after me."

"Hi dad." Said Alan staring at the only person like he had shrunk to the size of a mouse.

**OMG Mr. Tracy scares me! I had originally had Alan completely mad at Scott in that little flashback, but I couldn't resist the sweet brother reunion. Alan has officially captured my heart! **

**Reviews? Flames? Beat me with a stick?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Hope everybody's doing well. I don't know about you all, but I have been so stressed lately. But, writing is one of the most therapeutic stress relievers…or it is for me anyway so without further ado (Minus the quick disclaimer of " No I don't own the Thunderbirds or any other cool Universes yet) I present you with …

**Chapter 7**

Jeff Tracy stared down each of his sons going from oldest to youngest. He was met with defeated looks from Scott and John, defiant looks from Virgil and Alan, and Gordon just seemed to look rather pleased with himself, as if he had done nothing wrong. This was one of those parenting moments that never came with a book or video set. How were you supposed to get onto your sons for saving a whole government facility and their father from a group of terrorists, and managing to engineer some of the machines, he himself had given up on years ago. So he needed to know what exactly happened in the past elven days, before they could move on to their current situation.

"Anyone care to start?" He asked his boys, hoping that one of them would take responsibility.

However all five boys remained silent. He sighed, having been afraid that it might come to this. The boy's had been willing to sacrifice everything to rescue him, but were always ready to defy him at a moment's notice. Yep, these boys were definitely his.

_**Eight days, 92 hours 30 minutes earlier**_

Jeff Tracy had worn the red carpet in his office floors by how many times he had paced it in the last twenty five minutes. Thirty minutes ago, he had received a phone call that had shaken him to his very core. Jeff Tracy and Hiram H. Hakenbaker had made a pact, nine years ago, that they would never call each other, ever again. So when he got a call on his personal cell phone and the familiar voice of the highly paranoid Ph.D. was on the other line, Jeff Tracy went from unsettled to panicked in a matter of a second.

"You know I wouldn't call if it weren't important."

Jeff sighed, "What's happened Hiram?"

"The project."

"The one we weren't ever supposed to even think about ever again?"

"The files have gone missing."

Jeff swore profusely. "It's what we get when we trust the government to keep anything safe."

"Those files had both of our names on it."

Jeff sighed heavily again, "You think they're going to come looking for the blueprints."

"Think? Jeff we both know exactly what's happening, it's exactly like last time, only this time, you're the only one with anything to lose."

Jeff rubbed a hand over his face wearily.

"I'm going underground. If I were you Jeff, I'd send your family on a long vacation, and then do the same."

The call ended with a harsh click, and Jeff slammed his own line. And so the pacing began. During the next twenty minutes, he ran through every worst case scenario he could possibly think of and none of them ended well for his boys. The people that were coming for the blueprints would be as ruthless as last time, if not more. It would take them a matter of days to plan, prepare and hit Jeff. They would use the boys against him to obtain the blue prints, and then they would leave no evidence behind. Jeff realized that he was going to have to call in a few unpleasant favors owed to get the boys out of state, or even out of the country for a while.

A knock on the door to the office interrupted his thoughts.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

Gordon's voice came through the other side of the door. "Dad you're gonna want to come out and see this."

Jeff sighed, praying silently that it wasn't something Alan did this time. He was going to have to deal with Alan's behavioral problems eventually. But right now they were a few other concerns that need to be taken care of first. As he followed Gordon into the kitchen, he realized that everything was about to get much more complicated. Gordon smiled as Jeff saw the other occupants in the kitchen.

"Guess who Virgil picked up on his way home from work?"

Two familiar faces stood before him in between his mother and Alan. A blonde with blue eyes, who was the older version of Alan, and a brunette who looked far too much like his mother stood there with smirks that put Gordon to shame.

"Hey dad." Said Scott

Jeff smiled, moving forward and clapping Scott on the shoulder before pulling him into a brief hug.

"Good to see you too Scott."

Jeff repeated the same with John, and while it was good to see his two wayward sons, this made things a lot more complicated when it came to protecting his family from the imminent danger that was coming their way. He decided that the first thing to do was to talk to his mother. He turned to Virgil, Gordon, and Alan.

"Why don't you boys help your brothers get settled, while I'll help your grandmother finish up in the kitchen."

The boys nodded, heading upstairs, Gordon saying, "Don't forget kickoffs at six."

He waited until he heard all the footsteps move above their heads before he turned back to his mother.

"Now, Jefferson Tracy," she said, not even bothering to take her eyes off the stuffing she was making, "are you going to tell me what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into? Or am I going to have to wait and hear about it in the papers again?"

Jeff knew he shouldn't even ask how she knew. The woman had a sixth sense about these kinds of things. It was a huge asset when it came to catching Alan or Gordon before they even made a plan for a prank. However, when it came to hiding things from everyone, it was a real pain for Jeff. He sighed, explaining to her the situation; he noticed the slight change in her demeanor as he spoke about the stolen files and how Jeff and Hiram's records were with them. She turned around to face him after he was finished.

"You believe the boys are in danger?" she asked

Jeff nodded, "I'm working on contacting some old colleagues of mine to get them out of the country, although I wasn't expecting the older two."

"Well, with your head stuck in your office so much I wouldn't be surprised if you missed a tornado blowing right through your living room."

Jeff sighed, knowing that she was exactly right. She brushed her hands on her apron.

"Well," she said, "you do what you can. But we are all going to sit down tonight, have a good Thanksgiving dinner, and you are going to be as civil as possible."

Jeff knew better than to argue with his mother, and went to make a few more calls before dinner.

_**Present**_

Looking back on it, Jeff would have never agreed to start the original project if he had known what it would have led his family to.

"You boys disobeyed a direct order." He said glaring at each one of them, "I specifically told you not to come after me."

"And you actually thought that we would listen?" Asked Virgil, "I knew that you didn't know us very well dad, but I didn't think that you wouldn't know us at all."

Jeff could only stare at his second eldest defiant look for a moment before replying, "This was not something that you needed to be involved in."

"You already involved us." Said Scott, with a cold look on his face, "You involved us elven years ago when you took on the project. "

"You don't think I realize that?"

"No I don't think you do. I don't think you realize much of anything these day s." said Virgil.

"Watch your tone." Warned Jeff.

"Or what you'll ground me?"

"That's enough." Said John, providing a physical and emotional buffer between the conflicting Alpha males in the room. "You both need to stop. We need to focus on getting this whole mess straightened out and we can't do that if you two are going to butt heads the whole time."

Jeff sighed, hating that once again his middle son had to be the level headed one. It was his job as a father to protect his sons and give them guidance, and he had failed miserably on both counts.

"Look, "he said trying to calm himself down, "I know that we're all tired and angry, but we need to put together everything that's happened up till now."

"I agree." Said Scott, "But I think the explanations need to start with the project first. I think it's time you told us what Project: Thunderbirds is all about."

**So what do you think? Grandma Tracy totally has superpowers! How else could she have raised Jeff Tracy and all the Tracy boys. As if Gordon and Alan weren't a handful on their own!**

**REVIEWS? FAVS? Public mocking in the town square?! **


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